First saw this almost 50 years ago as a kid on a saturday morning...loved the skit with the not a fit night for man or beast and the somewhat predictable ending.

Suggest you read the Toby Peters mystery of the same name by Stuart M Kaminsky...you can almost hear Fields in every line.

Much of the humor is derived from very broad acting. Perhaps the style was familiar to audiences of the day who then understood who was being parodied. But for modern viewers this will be a very slow and awkward feature.

First saw this in a humanities course in college. W.C. Fields was a bit of a counterculture cult hero back then.
The gag where ice cubes come out of the pump isn't too bad, but the film is slow paced, with the regular "And it ain't a fit night out for man nor beast!" to keep you watching.
If you like Fields, watch it.